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Tracking Dragons
Warning! Note that while the threats of death from burns, bites, constriction, slashes and venom should never be underestimated, when approaching a dragon one may well become hypnotised. A hypnotised dragonologist is unlikely to be able to free themselves of the dragon's influence so the following note is provided to their friends. Please be aware that a hypnotised dragonologist is likely to pretend not to be so one can never be too careful. There is only one surefire way to free a friend of a dragon's influence in a lasting manner and that is to fill their mental attention with another topic. Complex subjects (constitutional law, economic systems, the history of benzene manufacturing etc) are good but the best is mathematical sums. Step 1: Identify an area It is incredibly frustrating to spend hours looking for a dragon in an area where there simply aren't any so it is always best to start off by identifying an area where your hunt for dragons is likely to succeed. Whether or not a dragon will be found in an area depends on a large number of factors and I can not list them all here but here are a few. Climate When looking for a particular type of dragon search in their natural habitat. For example, it's no good looking for a Frost Dragon in a desert or a Wyvern on tundra. Continent and country are also important as, though Chinese dragons live happily in forests there is little chance of finding them outside of Japan. Human activity Western Dragons avoid humans whenever possible and Eastern Dragons also prefer areas with limited activity. Gargouilles may be found in cities, especially in areas with lots of gothic buildings where they camouflage themselves as pieces of masonry. Signs Rather than guessing where a dragon might be, it is often a good idea to do a preliminary examination of an area for signs of dragons, then carry on if they are found. This need not even be in person, looking for scorched earth in satellite images or dragon reports in newspapers is good. Also, you can check out our Dragon Sightings forum which was created with this purpose in mind. Step 2: Find and follow a dragon trail Alternate step 2: Attract a dragon While this is faster than finding and following a dragon trail it requires large amounts of specialist expertise and equipment. Deceiving one of a dragon's senses will only be good enough to get it within a few miles or, at best, a few hundred meters before it will sense something is up. A dragon's sense of smell is especially good so you will need a scent of a lamb or something as well as a visual decoy. Be careful not to overdo it because that might tip the dragon off as well. Other option, skip step 2 If you can't find a dragon and you can't trick a dragon then maybe, just maybe, you can convince the dragon to speak to you on its own terms. Though yelling "I'm here" occasionally pays off, dragons are rightfully secretive and so a much better approach is to leave a rock inscribed with writing. Though human languages or even alphabets may work it is easiest to get a dragons acceptance by writing runes in dragonish. Step 3: getting alongside a dragon And now for the hard part. Tricks at this stage will not work and the dragon is liable to fly off. Provision of gifts is good and though diamond works best, steel or even food works perfectly well.